Practical Tips For Choosing Your Home
You need to follow a series of practical tips for choosing your home since it’s a process that everyone gets excited about and it’s easy to get carried away. However, when we get into the home search process, we sometimes realize that it’s much more difficult than we first thought. Often it can even lead to despair.
You have to take the time to choose the right home for you because it’s generally a long-term decision. Here are some practical tips to help you make the best choice.
Practical tips for choosing your home: research all platforms and websites
On the Internet, you’ll find countless portals where you can view and compare a lot of homes. In addition, they display the best and latest offers in real estate, so it’s easy to find the home you want. The filters will help you to select the homes that best suit you. And if any properties catch your eye, you can contact the seller or landlord directly.
Dealing directly with local real estate companies is another great option since they’ll have a wide range of options. If it’s a good agency, they’ll happily accommodate your needs through a market study to find the homes that meet your criteria.
Their opinions and experiences in the sector will make the selection process easier for you. They can also advise you on financing, complete a thorough analysis of your potential home and prepare any legal paperwork.
It’s important that you educate yourself independently when it comes to choosing a real estate agency. Seek out references and those with independent and verified testimonials. In some cases, the prices for using an acclaimed real estate company are higher, but you’ll likely save money in the long run. This is because they also act as mediators and negotiate the property price with the owners and landlords.
If there’s a neighborhood that you particularly like, you can also visit it yourself and look out for any rental or for sale signs. This is always a good option.
Find a good location
Find the perfect location by assessing factors such as proximity to your family, friends or work. Some opt for the center of an area to save time and money on transport and travel. While others prefer to live on the outskirts of a town and lead a more peaceful life. However, something that you have to consider is that your potential home is well connected.
Practical tips for choosing your home: don’t go over budget
This is the most important tip. Previously, you’ll have prepared accounts to establish a maximum budget for your new home.
An important fact that you should know (if you decide to buy a home) is that banks stipulate that the monthly mortgage payment mustn’t exceed a percentage that ranges between 35 and 40 percent of the buyer’s net income.
Make sure the building is in good condition
If you choose a real estate agency to manage your home search, the entire process will be easier as they will do the hard work for you.
If, on the other hand, you complete the search yourself, bear in mind that if the building is over 20 years old, it should be surveyed and checked every ten years. This report provides information on the structural condition to anyone interested in buying the property.
What about the neighborhood and community?
It’s something that we don’t often fully consider, but it’s incredibly important. Since the community in which you live will affect your daily life.
An important thing that you must also research is any monthly or annual fixed costs that are payable. Particularly if you’re interested in living in a gated community or a building that may incur extra expenses, such as the maintenance of the elevators, pools, or gardens.
Practical tips for choosing your home: neighborhood stores and services
It’s very convenient if your future home has nearby stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies. It’s important to find out if there are local parks, nearby gyms, and quality restaurants to help you disconnect from your day-to-day without having to go very far.
Noise and pollution
Your home must provide you with peace of mind since it’ll become your sanctuary and the place where you spend the most amount of time. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that it’s not located near noisy bars, busy highways, discos, or industrial factories, so that they don’t disturb your daily life.
It’s also important that your new home is soundproofed. At any time there may be construction works or noise pollution and therefore, soundproofing will prevent noise from entering your home.
Hours of light per day
This is an essential factor, which will make your home appear bigger and brighter. Above all, if you work at home, you have to take into account the orientation of the house and the hours of light it’ll receive during the day.
If it has a good orientation, you can save up to 80 percent in energy consumption. It’s a detail to take into account since finding a home that receives a lot of natural light can be a great investment.
It’s clear that homes with a lot of natural light are more cheerful than those that don’t receive as much light.
These practical tips are essential when choosing the home of your dreams. By taking them into account, you’ll make the right choice.